BLACKCAPS captain Daniel Vettori is confident his side’s batting line-up is ready to deliver, ahead of tonight’s one-day international series opener against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
While explosive opener Jesse Ryder would be missed, Vettori said there was still depth and strength in the batting.
“If you look at the actual line-up there’s some real match-winners with the likes of Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor, and Scott Styris brings a lot of experience,” Vettori said.
“I think these conditions are going to suit the batsmen so hopefully this is their tournament to really step up and make a difference for us.”
Vettori said the BLACKCAPS were likely to take two spinners into the opening match of the three-match series, with off-spinner Nathan McCullum set to partner Vettori.
“We haven’t seen the wicket yet,” he said after the team arrived in Abu Dhabi following preparations in Dubai. “But we saw the history of it in the Pakistan – Australia matches (in April and May) and spinners dominated from early on so it’s more than likely we’ll go with two spinners and hopefully that works.”
The bowling attack is likely to be without the top-ranked ODI bowler Kyle Mills, who missed yesterday’s training session with a sore shoulder.
“I think everyone knows he’s the number one bowler in the world in one-day cricket so if he misses out it’ll be a big loss for us.”
It’s likely 20-year old medium fast bowler Tim Southee will get a start in tonight’s game. Vettori said that while Southee had been out of the side for a while, his ability and potential is well recognised.
“We saw when he first came into the New Zealand team what a really good and exciting bowler he can be. Particularly for him it’s going to be an exciting tour.”
